My only dream is to be with you NaruSaku
by SakuNaruLover
Summary: Naruto returns after his battle with Sasuke. He vows to bring him back. But is that what Sakura really wants? A story of a young boy and girl is the cruel world of the ninja [narusaku]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own Naruto or any characters**

"Where...Where am I"

"Naruto? Did you just say something, Naruto?"

"Huh…Sakura-chan?" After slowly opening his eyes, Naruto finally found out just where he was. "How did I get in the hospital?"

"Kakashi-sensei brought you here. He went looking for you when he heard that you were the only one that was chasing Sasuke. He found you lying on the ground in the Valley of the End and brought you back to Konoha as fast as he could."

_Oh...that's right. I went after Sasuke when he left Kohona to go to Orochimaru. I promised Sakura-chan that I would bring him back. But…that bastard...he…he was just too strong. I couldn't do anything to convince him to come back. Even using the chakra of the Kyuubi wasn't enough…_

"I am so glad you are okay, Naruto. I was so afraid…afraid that you weren't going to make it." Naruto looked at her and saw that she was crying, "It took Kakashi-sensei 3 days to find you and I've been worried the whole time."

_I was out for 3 days? I can't believe I needed to use some much energy of the Kyuubi to defend myself against Sasuke when he entered his curse seal level 2. The last thing I remember is my rasengan and his chidori colliding. But, apparently, it wasn't enough. I hoped that the scratch on his forehead protector would make him see that there are more ways to gain power then to go with Orochimaru. I…I have failed. _

"I…I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..."

Sakura's eyes widened as she hears those words. "Why are you apologising" she said with a forced smile on her face.

"I am so sorry" Naruto winced

Sakura walked over to him and looked him straight in the eyes. "It wasn't your fault, you really don't need to apologise. Sasuke-kun is the one to blame, not you. So please stop apologising."

Naruto looked up after hearing those words and saw that her eyes were watery too. "Sakura-chan…I will definitely keep my promise to you, my promise to bring him back. Because…because I told you it was the promise of a lifetime."

"It is alright, Naruto." She opened the curtains of his window. "The weather is really nice today, so I opened the curtains for you. It's not good lay in the dark for so long."

"I have always told you: I won't go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja!"

Sakura was shocked by his words and looked at him. She saw that his entire body was covered in bandages. She didn't see a sad boy though; he was smiling with the grin he always showed everyone. It was his typical grin.

Sakura couldn't help but to feel a little relieved and let out a small smile. _Thank you, Naruto. _

"Alright Naruto, but I will make a promise to you now too. Next time, we'll do it together. Next time I won't just stand here doing nothing. I will be ready to help you save him, Naruto. I promise." She had a gentle smile on her face.

Naruto looked up surprised, but that surprise quickly turned into happiness. "Deal" he said grinning.

"Well. I have to go now. I have some thing to take care of. So you just rest and recover. Don't try to sneak out too fast, it might hurt you. I'll come back tomorrow, okay."

"Yeah, I'll stay, don't really have a choice', he said smiling, 'My body can't move at the moment, it hurts like hell. See you tomorrow then, Sakura-chan." 

She closed the door behind her and was walking to the exit, when she stumbled upon Shizune, the apprentice of the new hokage, Tsunade. "Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura and I am a friend of Naruto. I would like to know how he is. He seems to be doing fine, but I can't make for sure. He tends to hide his pain."

The black haired woman frowned and told Sakura to go with her. Once they were in a room at the hokage tower, the black haired women started to speak: "That boy is really something else. He is not supposed to be alive anymore"

Sakura snapped. "What did you say? Why, were his injuries that bad? He seemed to be just fine right now."

"He is a pretty fast healer, but he is in pain right now. We just came out of surgery and that might just have saved him. He still needs to take a few days off to heal though. I'll get his chart." she walked over to a table and picked up a chart. "Are you really ready to hear this? It is not going to be pretty."

"I'm ready" Sakura answered, while doubt was definitely there in her voice.

"Okay. He had a big concussion, a broken nose, almost all of his ribs were broken, one of his shoulders was dislocated, he couldn't use his legs and one of his lungs was pierced, probably by a chidori. These were only the major injuries. He has a lot of bruises and small wounds too."

"I had no idea he was hurt so bad." Sakura winced. "He doesn't look like he's in pain like that. Why would he go so far? Why is he able to risk his life for a lousy promise he made to me." She started crying.

Shizune asked if she was alright. "Yeah I am alright, thank you. I need to go home now. I have some things to do." she started running put of the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura was sitting on her bed. She had been on that bed all day and it was getting late already. She just sat there, she had been crying a long time, but every time her mother came to her room, she acted like nothing was wrong. _Why, why did he do it? I didn't do anything for him at all. I just scolded him all the time. I never looked at him; the only one I could see was Sasuke-kun. Each time he tried to talk to me, I just ignored it and I would go talk to Sasuke-kun. We started to become better friends since that time though. _

It was the day that the Hokage had her birthday. It was only a week since she had become hokage. She has told nobody her age, but she looks young. There was a big party that night and everyone was invited to come. I was really excited and I really wanted to go there with Sasuke-kun. I asked him all day long and each time he told her to be silent. He did not want to go. He gave in after 3 hours of asking and he said he would go. I was so happy then.

I went shopping with Ino after that. Our friendship had been restored again because of the chuunin-exams. We hadn't been shopping together for so long. I really enjoyed myself then. I told Ino that I was going to the party with Sasuke-kun. She flinched at first, but came with me anyway. "We need to get you some good clothes then" she smirked at me. We bought a beautiful red dress with white Sakura flowers on it. I really like that dress. It even showed my breasts a little, because it fitted me so well. It was as if the dress was made for me.

It was now 7.00. I was almost finished getting ready. I had put on my dress, and my hair was up in a bun with only a few strains of hair framing my face. I had put on my best looking boots that evening. My mother gave me a beautiful necklace and earrings. I even put on some make-up that day. My mother told me I looked gorgeous. I couldn't help but to agree.

I stood on the bridge where team 7 would always wait for Kakashi-sensei to come late once again. I looked at the clock tower. It was 8.15 already. He was too late. Sasuke-kun was supposed to meet with me at 8.00. _Where is he? This was the place, was it?_ I tried to call him, but I got no response. I decided to wait. _Maybe, he was delayed. Probably, that annoying Naruto was pestering him. _She got angry when thinking about her other team mate. He blew all their missions.

_Where is he…he should have been here more than an hour ago now. It couldn't be that…that he forgot. Or even worse, he just didn't show up…I'll just wait a little bit longer. _

It was 9.00. Still no Sasuke and I knew it. He had stood me up. I was so angry and sad then_. The love of my life just stood me up. I told everyone I was going to go with Sasuke-kun. I can't go to the party now. How could he do this to me?_ I started crying then and started running home.

I had to pass the building where the party was held and I watched inside. _It looks very good. I wish I could be there. I wanted to show off my dress too. Damn you, Sasuke-kun. _

I couldn't keep my tears in anymore and I started walking home, when suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"N…Naruto? What are you doing here?" I was really surprised.

"I saw you weren't at the party and I got worried. I heard you were going to go with Sasuke, but I saw him by himself in the beginning of the party. He only stayed 5 minutes or so and went home. He said something about the party being boring and then he went home."

"Why, why would he do this to me? Why Naruto? Have I done something wrong or something? Aren't I good enough for him?" I winced while crying a lot.

I continued to cry when suddenly I felt two hands resting on my shoulders. "It is not your fault, Sakura-chan; you are the best that can ever happen to him."

I stopped crying. "I am not even going to cry anymore. It is not like it is the end of the world, right."

I tried with all my might to hold my tears in and I told Naruto that I was alright.

Then his hands left my shoulders and he pulled me closer into a tight embrace. I was shocked. "It is okay to cry, Sakura-Chan." He looked at me with eyes full of concern and he had his warm smile on his face.

I started crying on his chest and he just held me saying nothing. It was all I needed then. "I am okay now, Naruto, thank you."

"Anytime, Sakura-chan." He had a warming smile on his face. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I guess I'll go home. It's not like I've got anything better to do..."

"I want to ask you to come to the party with me then. I know you can't stand being around me, but I also know you want to go to the party. You look so beautiful. It would be a shame to just go home now."

I just looked at him in shock. His blue sapphire eyes were staring at me and I just felt happy that he was there. "Of course I'll go with you, Naruto" I really had to smile then.

He raised his arm and I put my arm in his and we walked to the party together. Everyone was shocked to see us walking in together. We just went to the dance floor and started dancing. I placed my arms around his neck and he put his hands around my waist "You really are beautiful, Sakura-chan. I feel like the happiest person alive right now." I could see that he was blushing.

"Thank you, Naruto. You look good yourself too"

We just danced all night. He brought me home after the party. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, eh"

"Thank you, Naruto, thanks to you this was one of the best days in my life after all. I really enjoyed it." I don't know what happened, but I suddenly gave him a hug.

"S...Sakura-chan?"

"That was for the great day, Naruto. Good night." Then I turned and closed the door. I heard him jumping and shouting "oh yeah!" and all I could do was giggle.

_We have been good friends since then and I even consider him my best friend now. He is always there for me. When I need him, but even when I don't really need him. He is always there to comfort me. I claim to love Sasuke-kun, even after all the things he has done to me, but sometimes I feel something when I am with Naruto too. It isn't love, but I am having these feelings. He has always been there for me and now is the time that I have to be there to help him. _

The next day she was up early. She walked to the tower of the hokage and knocked on her door. "Come in." Sakura walked in and stopped right in front of the woman's desk.

"I have come here to make a request. Please make me your student, hokage-sama." She said it without hesitating.

The old woman stopped writing and looked at the pink-haired girl. She knew she cared a lot for both Sasuke and Naruto and remembered how important it is to protect your precious persons. "Haruno Sakura, I hear from Kakashi that you clearly have intelligence. Okay, I accept, but I'm not going easy on you!"

Sakura's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger "Hai, Tsunade-sama"


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto has been in the hospital for 3 days now. He had listened to his pink-haired friend and stayed in bed the whole time. She had come to visit every day and they talked a lot. He looked around the room and saw a flower standing on the table. _That a guy like me gets visited by a girl and she even brings me flowers. I never expected this. Just one more day and finally I can get out of here. I hate hospitals, it's so damn boring here and the food is gross. I'll just go to sleep, it's really the only thing I can do here._

Naruto was just falling asleep when he heard someone walking in the room. He opened his eyes and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw who it was: "Ero-sennin?"

"Yo", the white-haired sannin said. "I heard you were severely wounded, but you seem just fine to me."

"The Kyuubi is helping me to heal fast, but what are you doing here?" Naruto had a confused look on his face.

"Tomorrow I'm taking you with me for a 2.5 long year training session. I'll be training you the whole time. I was gathering information these last months and I found out that Akatsuki is coming after you in about 3 years. We need to make you strong before that time comes, because right now, you don't stand a chance against them."

"But, Ero-sennin, I don't have time to train. I have to keep a promise to a friend; I have to bring Sasuke back. He's with Orochimaru now; he will lose his body if I don't save him soon."

"I have studied Orochimaru's technique and we have nothing to worry about yet. He can only switch bodies once in 3 years. He switched recently, so we have time. But, forget about Sasuke. He chose this path himself, he is the same type as Orochimaru; he would do anything for power."

"He might not mean anything to you, Ero-sennin, but to me he is a friend!" Naruto was getting very angry now.

"I know I can't change your mind. I know you long enough for that. I am going to train you to defend yourself against people like Akatsuki, but there might be people even stronger then the people in that organisation. You can do what you want after the training, but don't get your hopes up. He won't be the same Sasuke you know."

"Yeah, I know, but that won't stop me. I promised I would bring him back and I don't go back on my word, because that is my nindo, my ninja way!" the blond ninja had a big smile on his face.

"Jeez, well come to the gate tomorrow and we'll set off. Don't forget to pack your stuff and only the important stuff this time, Naruto. Well, see ya." With that the legendary sannin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Just you wait Sasuke; I am coming to get you."

"This is so hard. I've been trying this for 3 days now and still I can't get this fish to breathe again. Tsunade-sama wasn't kidding when she said this was one of the hardest techniques to learn." Sakura sighed.

"You need to focus your energy better. You have the knowledge but you lack focus and stamina. But don't worry, you are doing great. I never expected you to do this well so soon." _She must be another machine, like Shizune. _"That's enough for today, Sakura; you have used all your chakra."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." _Finally. I'm beat. I think I am going to take a scroll around town. _

"It is still so early. Nobody is up yet. That Tsunade, she works me to death, can't a girl even get her beauty sleep anymore?" Sakura suddenly stopped to see a familiar face at the gates. "Naruto?"

"Hey, Sakura-chan."

"What are you doing with your backpack? You aren't allowed to go on missions yet, you know" Sakura had a worried tone in her voice.

"I'm leaving the village today. Ero-sennin is taking me on a training trip for 2.5 years."

"What!? You're leaving?" Sakura looked at the ground with a sad expression on her face.

"Yeah, I need to get strong as fast as possible. I need to keep a certain promise, you know."

Sakura looked up and saw that the boy had his trademark grin on his face. She couldn't help but smile a little too. "Well, you better get a lot stronger then. You are not the only one training under a sannin now. I have become Tsunade's student."

She saw the boy was shocked. "That's great, Sakura-chan! Then I will have to try even harder. I don't want to lose to you." The boy was grinning.

Sakura couldn't help but blush, but she quickly looked away, so he couldn't see it.

"Naruto, time to go now!" They looked at the gate and saw the legendary sannin waiting impatiently for Naruto.

"Well, it's time for me to go. I'll see you around, Sa..." the boy's words were cut short when he saw that Sakura suddenly gave him a big hug. "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked up and saw that he was blushing. She started smiling. "Train hard and come back safe, okay. I don't want to lose you too."

"I promise, Sakura-chan."

"Then I am relieved." She released the boy and waved him goodbye.

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan!" _Wow, where did that came from? Maybe I stand a chance after all. Oh yeah!_ "Let's go Ero-sennin. Time to do some training!"

Sakura just stood there and saw the boy and his teacher jump into the trees. "Well, they're off." _Where did that hug come from? And why am I blushing? It's not like I have feelings for Naruto, right? We have been getting closer and closer, but I haven't felt anything like this before. I guess I'll figure out sooner or later what these feelings are. Now I have to focus on my training. Next time I won't be a burden.  
_


	4. Chapter 4

"Happy birthday, Sakura!"

"Thanks, Ino. I am glad you remembered my birthday."

"Why shouldn't I remember your birthday?" Ino was confused, "I have come to every one of your birthdays since we were little kids. We might have had our differences, but we are still friends."

"I'm sorry; I'm just a little depressed. My parents are out of town. They gave me a nice present, these earrings, but it is the first time that they aren't here when I'm having my birthday. It seems like the rest of the gang doesn't even know it's my birthday. Naruto isn't here either, because he is training with Jiraiya. I sure miss him; it's just so quiet around here without him."

"Yeah" Ino answered, "It is really quiet around here. Finally that annoying brat leaves us alone for a while. I live pretty close to his him and he starts training very early. He wakes me up every time. I'm glad that he working so hard, but a girl has to get her beauty sleep. On top of that he is hyperactive and he gets aggressive fast. I'm glad he's away for a time."

"Hey don't call him that. He really is a nice guy, Ino. You just call him that because you don't know him the way I do. You have only seen the aggressive, annoying side of him, but I've learned that he has a real nice and caring side too." Sakura was starting to get a little upset and gave Ino a look that can kill.

"You sure seem fond of him, forehead. I sense love in the air." Ino smirked.

"What are you talking about, Ino-pig?"

"Why are you blushing then, eh Sakura" Ino had a devilish smile on her face. "I saw you guys hugging each other when he left. I had to go on a mission, so I had to leave through the gate too. And you're being awfully nice to him lately. So explain, what is going on between you guys?"

"I…I don't really understand it myself. I seem to have some kind of feelings for him, but I don't know what kind of feelings. I guess only time will tell eh. He has sent me a couple of letters. In these letters he usually says that his training is going well and that he'll get strong fast to keep his promise. But he also kept saying something about some organisation of criminals and that they are gathering information about that group. I am looking at my mailbox every day, looking for a letter. But he stopped sending them a while ago. I hope that nothing has happened to him." Sakura was starting to sound worried now and Ino noticed.

Ino walked over to Sakura and gave her a comforting look. "I might not know Naruto as good as you know him, but I do know that he's really strong. He won't go down easy. He'll come back safe. Believe me, Ino is always right." Sakura looked up to Ino and saw the blonde girl smiling at her. "Yeah, you're right, Ino."

**Dingdong. "**I'll go get it." Sakura walked to the door and opened it. There was a tall man standing in front of the door with a huge bouquet of flowers. She looked at the clothes the man was wearing and saw that he wasn't from Konoha.

"Special delivery for Haruno Sakura."

"I am Haruno Sakura."

"Then please put your autograph here" Sakura put her autograph on the place the man told her. Then he gave her the flowers and left. "Have a nice day."

"Wow, Sakura, that's beautiful. Who gave it to you? I bet your parents sent it. They know you are sad that they aren't here, so they must hope to cheer you up with these flowers. It is a nice bouquet. My parents own a flower shop, so I know when a bouquet is good and when it's not."

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. She had never seen a beautiful bouquet like this before. "I don't know. There is a card in the bouquet. Let's see."

_Dear Sakura, _

_I want to wish you a happy birthday. I know it's not much, but I hope you like the flowers. I bought them in the best flower shop of the small town I am staying in now. I wished I could congratulate you in person, but the time and place don't let me. I am on the other side of the world right now and I am training like hell. _

_I am sorry that I didn't write you any letters for a while now, but I have to keep my location a secret. The organisation that I told you about is trying to find me and if I send too many letters, they might locate me. _

_I really hope you'll get nice presents and that you have a nice birthday. I wish I could treat you by taking you out to dinner, but I'll make it up to you, I promise. _

_Please tell everyone that I'm doing fine and that I'm coming home soon. This is the last letter I will be writing. I am going to train harder then I have ever done the coming weeks, so I'm going to be very busy. _

_I am really missing you and I hope we will meet again soon. Goodbye. _

_Your hyperactive number one ninja, _

_Uzumaki Naruto_

"How sweet of him. I wish a guy would send me some flowers. Sakura, I hate to say it, but I envy you." Ino looked a little sad. _The only guy that wants to go out with me is Chouji. He is a nice guy, but a little to chubby. I really want to go out with Shikamaru, but_ _since he met that sand ninja, he doesn't see me standing anymore. _

Sakura's cheeks were pink and she was smiling. "He remembered, he remembered my birthday and gave me this beautiful bouquet. I never told him when it was my birthday; I didn't want him to come at my parties, so I never told him. So how does he know?" She looked at the flowers. _These are my favourite flowers, red roses and daffodils. How does he know these are my favourite flowers? How sweet of him. _

Ino looked at Sakura and saw that she was a little sad.. She put her arm around the pink-haired girl. "I…I really miss him, Ino. I think you may be right, these feelings may be more than I thought."

"He'll be back soon enough. And then you can talk with him all you want. I am sure he misses you too, Sakura." Sakura looked at Ino and saw that she had a comforting smile on her face.

"Yeah, you're right." Sakura started smiling a little. "I thought that this was my worst birthday ever, but it turned out to be a good one after all. Well, I am going to put these flowers into the water and then I'm going to bed. Tomorrow, I will have to go through another training session with Tsunade-sama. I am going to need my rest."

"Okay, then I will be leaving, forehead. I'll see you when I see you. Bye!"

Sakura went to bed after putting the flower in a vase next to her bed. She looked at the flowers once more before turning her head to the window. She looked at the sky. _The sky really is bright tonight. I can see a lot of stars. _She was surprised when she saw a shooting star. _Need to make a wish fast: Please let Naruto come back safe to the village. _She looked to the stars one more time and she thought she could see an image of her friend. _Good night, Naruto._


	5. Chapter 5

"Hurry up Ero-sennin, we're almost there. I can see the village."

"He is certainly cheerful today." The old man was grinning.

The main streets of Konoha were busy as always. The people stopped with what they were doing for a moment though, when they saw 2 figures enter the town. "Hey, is that?" Some people smiled when they saw the 2 figures walking and some got angry.

"Sakura, let's take a break now."

"Why, Tsunade-sama? I still have plenty of energy left."

"Just go to the village and you'll see something interesting."

Sakura looked shocked and before Tsunade could say anything else, Sakura had left the building. "Haha, I knew she'd be happy."

Naruto looked around the village and was so glad he was home again. "Finally, I'm back. Nothing's changed, well almost nothing, looks like they put the hag's face on the hokage wall." He started to walk again, when he was shocked to see a lot of smoke coming his way. "What the hell." He couldn't say another word; he was tackled to the ground. He didn't know what hid him. He was confused to say the least. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see that he was being held by someone. "Sakura-chan? Is that you?"

"Naruto, of course it's me, baka."

Naruto was shocked to see his long time crush holding him. "Why…why are you holding me, Sakura-chan?" He was starting to blush.

"Is it wrong to hug a good friend who you haven't seen for the last 2.5 years? I've missed you. Aren't you glad to see me?" I'm the only one hugging, so I guess you aren't happy to see me" Sakura tried to fool him by sounding sad.

"Of course, I'm happy to see you, Sakura-chan. I was just a little shocked. Whenever I tried to hug you before, I'd end up with broken bones or something."

Sakura started to blush. "Oh yeah, that's true, I won't hurt you this time though." Sakura smirked.

Naruto was getting more and more confused. _What the hell. Why does she want me to hug her? Is this really Sakura-chan? She must be sick or something. Ack, this isn't the time to be asking questions. The girl of my dream wants me to hug her. What am I waiting for? Come on stupid body, move! _He moved forward and started hugging the girl.

_Took you long enough. This is so warm. He's grown so much and looks quite handsome now. He even changed his clothes._ Sakura released him and Naruto let go too, he was still in shock. "You've grown taller than me in these years." _And more muscular too. _"Yeah." Naruto simply nodded, still in shock.

"Well, do I look more womanly now?" she asked in a flirting way. _Finally my breasts are normal size now. Everyone used to tease me for those small breasts. Finally, I can show that I'm a grown woman now. _"You look great. You look like the Sakura-chan I remember, you are a little bigger now, though." He was smiling.

Sakura's face fell. _Looks like, he still doesn't understand anything about women. _Jiraiya stepped forward "Naruto, I am sorry to but in. but I will be leaving now. I am going to keep monitoring Akatsuki. You just watch your back and I know you know, but don't use that jutsu."

"Yeah, I know. I'll only use it when I have no other choice." Naruto was really serious now.

"Well then, see ya." With that he disappeared.

"Come Naruto, I'm sure my master will be pleased to see you." They walked to the tower of the hokage. Sakura wanted to talk to him, but decided to keep her mouth shut after looking at the boy. He was looking around his village that he hadn't seen for so long and he seemed really happy to be back again. Sakura had a genuine smile on her face now. They reached the tower of the hokage and went into her room. They were surprised to not see only Tsunade, but Kakashi in the room too.

"Yo, long time now see, Naruto." The silver-haired ninja still had the same nonchalant look on his face. _You would think that he'd show some emotions in his face after seeing someone you haven't seen in years. _

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei; hey old hag. It's been a while." Naruto looked to see the female hokage before him. He started to smile; she was the woman he saw as his own mother at times. He knew that she wouldn't like the 'hag' part, but he had to show her that he was still the same Naruto.

"Welcome back to the village, Naruto, and I thought I told you several years ago to stop calling me a hag. I hope your training has paid off. Akatsuki has been growing impatient according to Jiraiya and the rock country has been growing a lot too. I fear that the peaceful times will soon end. The rock is about to make a move. We need your power."

"You'll just have to wait and see, old hag." Naruto grinned.

"Then we'll just do that." Tsunade said, "I want to see how far you and Sakura have come. And that's when you come into the picture, Kakashi."

Kakashi jumped before the 2 young ninja's. "Naruto, Sakura, come to the training ground in one hour. Bring your gear with you." He jumped out of the window, leaving a confused Naruto and Sakura behind. "What are we going to do?" Naruto asked Sakura. "I don't know.

You never know with him. We might as well go to the training ground. Bye, Tsunade-sama. I'll be back soon."

"Good luck" she whispered when the two ninja's left the room.

Naruto and Sakura have been waiting for over 2 hours at the meeting point. Naruto couldn't sit still and kept walking in circles. Sakura looked at Naruto and started smiling. _He's still the restless Naruto I know._ "Where is he? I have better things to do than this. I could have used this time to train." Naruto said slightly irritated. Just then a puff of smoke appeared before the 2 ninjas. The masked ninja started to apologise: "Sorry I'm late, I had to help an old lady on the way here and..."

"LIAR!" He heard the 2 young ninjas shout at the same time. "Well, anyway, I'll explain what we are doing here. We want to find out just how strong you guys have become. So, you guys are going to fight me now."

Naruto and Sakura were clearly shocked, but that shock quickly disappeared. They glanced at each other and started getting ready. Naruto tightened his forehead protector and Sakura put on her fighting gloves. "Are you sure, Kakashi-sensei?" Both of them were smiling.

"You sound confident enough. This time though I won't hold back." He removed his forehead protector and revealed his sharingan. "We'll fight until tomorrow morning. You have to come at me with the intent to kill. I want to know how far you've come. Now, come!"

Naruto didn't waste a second and threw 3 shuriken at his sensei. Kakashi jumped and evaded them. Naruto then threw 3 shuriken while Kakashi was in the air. Kakashi tried to evade them when he saw Naruto making some seals. "Shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu!" The 3 shuriken were becoming more and more shuriken. Kakashi looked shocked and made some seals. The shuriken hit their target, but Naruto was disappointed to see a log on the ground. "Damn, Kawarimi no jutsu" They hated that jutsu. "Where is he? Sakura-chan, do you see him?"

Sakura looked around. _Left, right, above, behind. If he's not at any of these places, then…_Sakura clenched her fist and hit the ground causing the ground to crumble. Naruto was shocked to say the least._ What the hell!? She has been training all right. I shouldn't make her angry anymore, hehe, she could kill me._

The two saw Kakashi inside a hole in the ground looking horrified. Sakura smiled and started to speak: "Found you, Kakashi-sensei. I'm no longer the useless ninja I used to be. I won't hold anyone back anymore." She started running to punch her sensei, but he evaded every hit. _Damn, I have the power, but he is just fast enough to dodge my hits. _

"Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu" Kakashi and Sakura were surrounded by a lot of Narutos. Sakura looked confused. _Wow, he's able to make this many? That uses a lot of chakra, no doubt. Now that I think about it: I remember Sasuke-kun telling me that he saw Naruto making this many kage-bunshin. He said it happened after Gaara knocked me out. Naruto was very angry then, according to Sasuke. He fought with everything to save me. I thought he was just being modest, but he said it was the truth. But back then, I just didn't care. Sasuke-kun was the only thing on my mind then. What a mistake that was._ She was called back to earth when she heard Naruto shout.

"Attack!" All the Naruto clones were running at Kakashi. Kakashi started fighting the clones and had a lot of trouble to defend himself. Suddenly Sakura was next to Kakashi and she hit him, only to see him disappear. _It was a kage bunshin…_

"I just need to keep away from Sakura and focus on Naruto", Kakashi said, "You need to do better than this if you want to beat me." He saw Naruto and Sakura talking to each other and saw an opening. He ran towards them, but stopped when they turned around. "This is it, Kakashi-sensei, Henge!" All Kakashi could see was a lot of smoke.

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes. There were no Narutos anymore. Instead, he saw a lot of Sakuras now. _Damn, now I have to evade all the attacks. One good hit from Sakura and it might be over. _Kakashi had trouble fighting off all the clones. _I need to get rid of these clones fast. _Kakashi made some seals: "Suiton, water dragon!" The dragon hit all the people around him and he smiled to see al the clones disappear. _Nice try guys, but you'll have to do better to beat me._

Kakashi was breathing heavily. He was shocked to see that Naruto and Sakura weren't there anymore. _What the, were they all clones? Then where are the real ones?_ "Rasengan!" _Damn, he's behind. _Kakashi quickly jumped away to evade the rasengan, but he didn't see that Sakura was above him and almost hit him. He grabbed her arm and threw her at Naruto. _That was close. They have sure been training. Back then, I could fight them while reading a book… _

He looked down to see the two ninjas, only to find out it were clones. Kakashi landed on the ground again and was panting. _It were clones again. He sure has gotten better with his kage bunshin. I've been using the sharingan for almost the entire night now. I need to finish this quick or else I'm in trouble. Now where are those two?_ Kakashi tried to walk, but was shocked to see that his feet were in a sticky swamp. _What the hell?_

"How do you like my hell swamp, Kakashi-sensei? Now, Sakura-chan, now's your chance!" Kakashi saw that Naruto was standing behind him, but he couldn't find Sakura. He saw a shadow getting bigger and bigger. _Oh shit, she's above._

Sakura jumped at Kakashi and hit him hard. Kakashi flew a few yards and landed in a tree. _Damn, my arm is broken._ Just then, they heard the sound of an alarm. "Okay, time's up." Kakashi was relieved.

Naruto and Sakura walked over to Kakashi. "So how did we do, sensei?" Sakura asked smiling. Naruto started grinning too. "You don't look so good, sensei. You okay?"

Kakashi jumped out of the tree and walked to the two ninjas. "I am really happy. You guys did much better than I had expected. You sure have grown these past years. And although you have been apart for a long time, your teamwork was really good. Well, congratulations, guys. From now on, you are chuunin."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other with big eyes. "What!"

"You guys couldn't take a chuunin exam, because you were training with the sannin all the time, so Tsunade-sama thought of another exam for you guys. If you guys could fight me the whole time and showed good teamwork, I was to promote you to chuunin level. So congratz, you passed." Kakashi had a big smile on his face.

Before he could say anything else, the two ninjas jumped on their sensei. "We're chuunin, oh yeah!"

"I am glad you're happy, guys, but you're forgetting something. MY ARM!!!" Kakashi cried out in pain. "Oops sorry, let me take a look at that." Sakura leaned over to see the broken arm and put her hands above it. Green light was coming out of her hands and after a few minutes she stopped. "All done" Sakura was breathing heavily now.

"Thanks a lot, Sakura. It seems like your healing techniques are good too."

Naruto kept looking at Sakura. _Sakura-chan, you're amazing…_

"I'm going to tell the hokage how you guys did. See you later." With that the masked shinobi disappeared. The two fell down on the ground. They were panting heavily.

Naruto moved closer to Sakura and started grinning. "This calls for a celebration, Sakura-chan. Let's go out to dinner to celebrate our promotion."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

Naruto pinched himself. _I'm not dreaming. What? She said yes? I expected a punch in the face. It can't get any weirder than this. _"How late should I pick you up then, Sakura-chan?"

The pink girl thought for a while. "How about 7 o'clock?"

"That's fine. I'll see you tonight then, Sakura-chan" Naruto jumped into the trees after saying those words.

_What the hell. I said yes? I'm going out to dinner with Naruto? Well, he did say in his letter that he would treat me by taking me out to dinner for missing my birthday. Might as well enjoy our little date tonight then. We haven't spoken to each other for so long. So we'll have plenty to talk about. _


	6. Chapter 6

"You look beautiful, Sakura. What are you going to do tonight, dear?"

"Oh, nothing much, Naruto is taking me out to dinner to celebrate our promotion."

"What, why would you go out to dinner with that monster?' Her mother was angry. Sakura was getting very angry now too: "Mom, Naruto's not a monster. I don't know where you got that idea, but it's wrong. He is one of the nicest people I know and he is always there for me." Just then the doorbell rang. "That must be him; I'm going to enjoy my dinner with him, Mom. I'll be back around 11 o'clock." She opened the door and saw Naruto standing there; she quickly went outside and closed the door.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. You look beautiful. N…Not that you don't always look beautiful. You know what I mean, right? That dress fits you perfectly." The boy was smiling and held his arm out.

Sakura put her arm into his. "You look good too, Naruto." _He really does look good. This is the first time that I've seen him without his usual clothes. He's wearing black pants, a white shirt and a black jacket over the shirt. He even has a tie around his neck. He must be taking this serious. I'm wearing my best clothes too, I don't know why, but I wanted to look good, although we're probably going to eat at Ichiraku's._

Sakura was curious about where they were going. They had already past the ramen stand. "Where are we going, Naruto?" The boy gave her a gentle smile: "We're almost there. I think you'll like it."

Sakura was shocked to see that they were standing in front of a restaurant. They went inside and the moment they went in, a waitress walked to them. "You must be Naruto-kun. Please follow me." They followed the waitress to a table outside. It was just next to the water and they had a brilliant view. "Your dinner will come soon. Do you want something to drink, sir?"

"Sakura-chan, what would you like?"

"I'd like some water, please."

"We want 2 glasses of water and one bottle of red wine please."

The waitress walked away and Naruto walked over to Sakura. He pulled back her chair and let her sit down. "Thank you, Naruto." Naruto walked over to his own chair and sat down too. He smiled when he saw that Sakura was looking around with big eyes. "I hope you like this place, Sakura-chan"

Sakura looked to the boy who was sitting across her and she saw he had a hopeful look on his face. "This place is beautiful, Naruto. This place is very expensive. How are you going to afford this? I don't want you to give out all your money on me." Naruto smiled at the girl facing him. "I've been saving up money for something very important. Seeing you happy is the thing most important to me, so money is not a problem. Let's just enjoy our dinner." Just then the waitress returned with their drinks and dinner. There were all kinds of food on the table. A salad, grilled fish, lobster, shrimps, teriyaki and much more. _This looks great. I was expecting ramen, but this looks very good. _

Naruto raised his glass: "Let's toast on our promotion to chuunin." They toasted and started eating the food. They talked about a lot of thing while they were eating. _I didn't know that I could have a decent conversation with him. He sure grew up these last years. I think he actually developed some brains. _Naruto talked about his journeys with Jiraiya and that the rock country was acting very weird. Sakura talked about the village and that it was a peaceful time when he wasn't there.

They were done eating and they got the check. Sakura saw it and grabbed her purse. "Naruto, this is too expensive, let me at least pay half."

"It's fine. I've said that I would treat you, so I will. No complaining" He had a big smile on his face.

"I hope you liked dinner, Sakura-chan." The blonde was looking at the stars. "It's almost time to bring you home, but we can take a walk if you want?" Sakura did something what Naruto hadn't expected. She grabbed his hand "It was great, Naruto. And I'd love to go on a walk with you."

Naruto blushed heavily. _Sakura-chan is this close to me. I must be dreaming. If this is a dream, please don't wake me up. _Sakura saw that Naruto wasn't all too comfortable. "Don't you like this, Naruto?" She asked it in a playful manner.

"Y…yeah I like it. Just not used to it."

Sakura smiled at the boy, but stopped smiling to tell something: "Naruto, tomorrow I have to go on a mission. I have to bring secret documents to a contact point in the country of rock. It's supposed to be a very important mission. I'm a bit nervous."

She looked up to him to see his blue sapphire eyes gazing down on her. "I'm sure that you'll do fine. You're the toughest person I know. You'll get the job done. But you have to watch out in the rock country. I've been there a while ago and something fishy is going on. Ero-sennin caught ear that some kind of organisation is working together with the rock country. You know that Konoha and the rock have been enemies for a long time. So watch your back."

"Thanks for the information, Naruto; I will be careful. I'll make you proud of me."

Naruto and Sakura kept walking until Sakura saw a certain blond coming their direction. "Ino-pig!" Ino smiled with a devilish smile and walked right to Sakura and started whispering to her: "Oh, just look at you two love birds. Tell me all about it later." Sakura got mad at the girl. "We have just been eating together to celebrate our promotion, that's all, right Naruto?" The boy nodded "Yeah, that's right."

They were almost at her home. Sakura could feel that they were being watched and looked up. All of the adults were looking angry at Naruto. "Naruto, why are all these people looking at you like that? Did you do something to them or something?" She was worried and confused. 

"Just don't look at it, Sakura-chan; it's nothing for you to worry about." Sakura looked at Naruto and saw that he was a little sad. _I don't know what it is, but I'd better not talk to him about it. It seems like it's really something. I've almost never seen Naruto sad. I'll just ask him some other time. _

"Well, we're here." They were standing in front of her home. "I hope you liked it, Sakura-chan."

"It was wonderful, Naruto. I really liked dinner and I enjoyed your company." Naruto started to grin. "Maybe we can go on a real date when you come back, Sakura-chan?"

"Don't push your luck, Naruto-baka." Sakura turned to open the door to her home. "Well, I will see you when I get back, okay?"

"Yeah, be careful out there, Sakura-chan."

"I will" She then closed the door and sat down on the couch. _You're not off the hook yet, Uzumaki Naruto. Ino was right. I think I like you. I'm not completely sure yet, though. First things first though, time to get ready for my mission tomorrow. It will be a hard mission, so I'll have to sleep well. Tsunade-sama said that the country of rock is a dangerous country and that they might start a war soon. I am going to meet a Konoha undercover agent and then I have to take the info he gives me back to Konoha. I don't know why, but something doesn't seem right. Ah, it's probably just my imagination._


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was coming up and Sakura was starting to get ready. She had to go to the rock country, a place where she's never been before. It was quite far and she would have to run three days straight. She hated to travel alone, so she wasn't all too happy with the mission. _Why do I have to go on this stupid mission? I mean, Naruto just came back. I wanted to spend some more time with him before going on a mission. I guess beggars can't be choosers. _She was walking to the gate of the village and looked at the village one more time. She heard a familiar voice when she turned though. "Sakura-chan!"

She looked up and saw Naruto standing on the roof of the nearest building. He was breathing heavily. He jumped down and ran over to Sakura. Sakura was confused to see the boy; it was way too early for a walk or something, so why was he up already? "Why are you here, Naruto? It's way too early to go training or something. And why are you having trouble breathing?

Naruto waited a second to catch his breath and started to open his backpack. Sakura could see that he was searching for something as he was throwing all of his stuff on the ground. She had to laugh for a second. "Ah, here it is." Sakura couldn't see what he found and was very curious. Naruto reached out his arm to her. Sakura didn't understand. "I came here to give you this."

Sakura looked at his hand and finally saw something in there. She started looking confused. "A bean? You came here to give me a bean?" Naruto saw that the girl was confused and explained it to her. "It's not just a bean. I got this bean from Ero-sennin while we were on our little training trip. He gave it to me for my protection. He said that whenever we were separated, he could find me because of this bean. I didn't believe it at first, but it really works. Look, I have one too. Now wherever you go I can find you. The two beans are connected in a way. The bean will start emitting different colours depending how far the two of us are apart. Whenever we are far apart the bean will be green. If we get closer the bean will change colours. It will go from green to blue to orange to yellow to red. If the bean is red, it will mean that I am mostly 2 miles away from you. This way we will be able to find each other when we get separated on a mission. I woke up this morning and I had a feeling that I had to give it to you now." The boy started to smile.

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Naruto. I had no idea a bean could be so helpful." She started laughing. "Well, I really have to go now. I have a long way to go, so I want to start running early. I'll see you when I get back. See you soon!" She gave him one last smile and jumped into the trees. "Goodbye, Sakura-chan."

Sakura was panting. _Finally, I'm almost there. I've been running for 3 days now. I only rested a few hours a day. I've still got little food and water left, but I have to get some more in the country of rock. I've still got to get back to Konoha. I wonder what the contact will give me. He has been there for more than 5 years now and Tsunade-sama says he has given them a lot of information about the rock. _She continued to jump from tree to tree and after two hours she could finally see the village she would meet him. _Okay, I am supposed to meet him in the building next to the café. The building is off-limits, so that we won't be interrupted. _

Sakura walked into the town without her forehead protector on. It was a secret mission, so nobody had to find out that she was a ninja. _Ah, there's the café. This has to be this building. _She looked up. The building was very big and was falling apart. _Must be very old. Looks like this village isn't very wealthy. The prices are very high and the people are living in junk. _

She walked into the building. _Time to finish up my job here, so I can go home. I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps. Where is that guy? What was his code-name? _"Redhound? Are you there, Redhound? It's me, Flower maiden!" 

"So, you are finally here." Sakura looked around to see where the voice was coming from. She saw a man standing with something under his arm. "Are you Redhound?" Sakura took a step back when the man threw the thing he was holding on the ground. "Oh, you mean this bastard. We found out that he was leaking information to Konoha. So we decided to hear him out and he told us that he was to meet you here today. After he told us the information, we had no further use for him and we got rid of him. Now, it is time for you to come with us girl. We want to ask you a few things about Konoha and its weak points." Sakura looked around to room to see at least a dozen rock ninja. They appeared to be chuunin level and higher. She became angry. "I'm not telling you anything, I'm going to beat you here and make you pay for your crimes."

The man started laughing. "Very well. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. He raised his hand and the ninja who were standing behind him started to surround her. "Now, weaken her, but don't kill her. We need her alive!"

The ninjas began to fight Sakura. Sakura was holding her own. She was fast enough to dodge the attacks of the ninjas. _They are kind of slow. Time to show off some of my power. _She dodged a blow from a ninja and hit him in the gut. The ninja went flying and was unconscious. The head ninja was surprised. _Oh, she is stronger than she looks. She released an amount of chakra out of her hand in one second and that gives her superhuman strength. You need perfect chakra-control for that. I'm going to have to use this. _He grabbed some sort of machine out of his jacket and jumped up.

Sakura was still fighting all the ninjas. She had defeated more than half of them now, but was getting a little tired. _Damn, they just keep coming. But I think I can handle them. Just need to focus my energy more. _Just then she felt a powerful blow to her stomach. She saw the leader standing in front of her. _What the hell, he's too fast. _Sakura stood up, only to see that he was moving his hand towards her stomach with unseen speed. He hit her stomach again and she was in deep pain. She was surprised. She saw that he had put a machine on her stomach in that last attack. She tried to get it off, but she couldn't. She tried to use her super strength, but the moment she tried to mold chakra, she got an electric shock. "Argh!" _What is this, why can't I mold my chakra. It must be that machine. _She didn't notice the man running at her again and was hit by a powerful uppercut. "Now, tie her up and put her in the machine!"

Sakura couldn't move anymore. _Damn, that guy is too strong. I need to get away. _She started to stand up, but she was being held by two of the ninjas. "Let me go!" She started to struggle, but didn't have enough power left. A few of the other ninjas came to her with ropes. Sakura tried to stand up, but it was no use. They were tying her arms behind her back and put ropes on her legs. She tried to break them, but it didn't work. "Damn, why can't I break them?" The pink-haired girl sounded angry and very scared.

The tall man that leaded the other ninja laughed at her. "Those ropes are filled with chakra, you won't be able to break them without you superhuman strength. And because of that device on your stomach, you can't mold any chakra. So you can't escape. Now put her in the machine, we need to get out of here!"

Sakura did her best to get free, but it was no use. _Damn, what do I do now! Maybe the people in the village can help me…_ "Someone, help! Please help me!" She was screaming until one of the ninjas gagged her with a piece of tape. "MMM!" She tried to struggle, but was thrown in some kind of machine. The ninja left her and closed the machine. She felt that the machine was moving and didn't know what happened. She was very scared and started crying. _What are they going to do with me? So this is it. I told everyone that I wouldn't be a burden anymore, but just look at me now, I've been kidnapped. It wasn't supposed to go like this. _Her strength left her now and she passed out.

She woke up in a dark chamber. She didn't know where she was. Her gag was gone and her arms and legs were chained. She tried to break lose, but she still couldn't mold any chakra. _Damn, what are they going to do with me? _Just then the man that beat her walked into the room. "I see that you are awake. Sorry, we had to get so rough, but you wouldn't come when we asked." Sakura got mad: "Shut up! Just what are you going to do with me?"

The man started laughing. "I want you to tell me everything about Konoha. I want to know the status of the village and all of its weak points. We have been enemies for some time now and after the next war, our hate for Konoha only grew.

Sakura looked shocked "Attack Konoha!? You creep; if you think I'll talk, think again!" The man walked over to her with a knife in his hand. "If you won't tell me, then I'll just have to force it out of you!" The man punched her in the face, causing a nosebleed. "I am needed somewhere else now, but I'll be back. I'll come back every day and I'll keep on hurting you until you tell me everything you know." The man walked out of the room and closed the door.

_Damn. Why does this have to happen to me?! _She started to cry. Blood was dripping on the floor from her nose. _I am not going to tell them anything. I won't betray my important people, even if it kills me. I guess, I guess this is where the road ends for me. I wanted to do so much more in my life. I promised that I wouldn't hold anyone back anymore. But I guess that it were just empty words. Thank you for everything, everyone. Thank you, Naruto…_She blacked out.

"Rasengan!" Shizune walked to the noise on the training ground. _What the hell, all the trees are down and holes are in the ground. What has he been doing?_ She walked over to the boy and she saw him destroying another tree with a rasengan. "Naruto-kun! Could you please come with me? Hokage-sama requests your presence."

"I'll be right there." He jumped over the giant holes and reached Shizune. _Finally, I've got it down. It took a lot of training, but I now know how to use this technique to its fullest potential._ "So the old hag wants to speak to me. Well, lead the way, Shizune-neechan."

Naruto and Shizune reached the room of the fifth hokage and they entered the room. Naruto was confused to see not only Tsunade in the room, but he could see Kakashi, Iruka and some anbu too. "Hey, old hag, so what do you need me for. If it's a mission, I'd rather pass; I'm still very busy training at the moment."

Tsunade looked at the boy with a straight face. "No, I didn't call you for a mission. And I thought I had told you to stop calling me a hag!" Naruto was shocked. _This is the first time that she got this angry for me calling her a hag. And what's with all the people in the room, they really look serious too. _"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something. Sakura-chan has been away for almost two weeks now, but she told me the mission would last about one week at the most. So do you know why she isn't back yet? Did you give her another mission or something?"

Naruto looked around when she didn't answer right away. He saw that all the people in the room had sad expressions on their faces and were looking to the ground. The hokage looked up and looked Naruto straight in the eyes. "That's the very reason I called you here, Naruto."  
Naruto was confused. _That's good, but why are these other people here? Something isn't right here. _He saw the hokage grabbing something from her drawer. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw what she was holding. "That's Sakura-chan's…"

"It is Sakura's forehead protector. She didn't come back, so I send a few anbu to her location to find out what she was doing. They found this on the location where she was supposed to meet the contact in the Rock country. They found it in a big puddle of blood. We analysed it and the blood was really Sakura's blood. There has been a fight, because there were kunai and shuriken lying on the ground and some dead bodies too. We tried to find a trace of her, but not even the dogs could smell anything and nobody could sense her chakra anymore. I'm sorry, Naruto, I really am. I know she was important to you…" The hokage looked at the boy who didn't move for a few seconds.

The blonde boy walked over to the desk the hokage was sitting on. He slammed his hand on the desk. Tsunade had never seen Naruto this mad before. "So, you're giving up on her!? I thought she meant something to you; wasn't she just you student, but your comrade, your friend too!? I can't believe you are giving up on her so easily. There's still no proof that she's dead. Isn't that enough to send more people to look for her!?" Tsunade looked at the boy and saw him falling on his knees. He was crying. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I can't spare any people for a mission doomed to fail. This case proves that we need to be prepared for the worst. The rock country may attack the village. We need to increase our defences, so I am keeping the missions to a minimum."

Naruto stood up and stared at Tsunade. Tsunade was shocked. He was looking at her with red eyes. "I didn't think you were so heartless, stupid hag! I thought that when you are a hokage that you have to protect the people from your village. You just abandoned one of your people. If this is what it means to be a hokage, then I don't even want to become it anymore!" Naruto turned around and ran out of the room. Kakashi stood up to stop him, but Tsunade stopped him. "He needs time. Let him be for now."

Naruto was sitting on his bed. His eyes were still watery from crying. _I can't believe it. Everyone gave up on her. _ _Sakura-chan…_Naruto stood up and grabbed his backpack. "I won't abandon her, I swore to protect her and I will." He put all kind of things in his backpack: A map, food and water, some medicine and bandages. When he was putting those things in the bag, he found the magical bean. He thought back at the moment he gave Sakura the bean. "That's right. I can find her this way! He put his backpack on his back and jumped out of the window. "I need to get past the guards at the gate, but how?" He was thinking for a moment. _There must be someone who would help me._

**Knock knock. **"Ino, could you get that for me?" Ino walked to the door and opened it. "Naruto? What are you doing here? And what's with the backpack? Are you going somewhere?" She looked at the boy and saw that he was very serious. "Could we please talk in private? I need to ask you something." She closed the door behind her and asked what was wrong. He told her everything. "What! Oh my god. Of course I'll help you. What do you want me to do?"

"Just distract the guards long enough, so that I can get past them. I would be forever in your debt." Ino looked at the boy. "That's easy. I'll give you plenty of time to go. Naruto, please bring her back. You truly love her, don't you? I can tell by the way you care for her."

Naruto looked in shock at the girl. "Yeah, I really love her. I'll do anything in my power to find her. Now, let's go." Ino walked to the gate and she saw the two guards. She started to scream and fell on the ground. The guard ran over to her to find out what was wrong. "Hey, are you okay?" They helped her up to her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, I guess." Just then she saw Naruto jump through the gates and into the trees. _Good luck, Naruto._

The next day the guards of the gate came running into the room of the hokage. "Hokaga-sama. We just looked at the security video of last night and we saw Uzumaki Naruto go out of the village!" The old lady stood up and looked shocked. "Damn. He went to the rock to find Sakura!" _Naruto, be careful out there. I don't want to lose another friend._


	8. Chapter 8

"Ah, it's red. I must be close." Naruto had been running for 2 days straight. He was panting heavily, but he knew that he couldn't rest. He had to hurry. He saw a big building in the distance. _That must be the place where she is. You better be alive, Sakura-chan! _He moved around very carefully and saw a lot of ninjas around. _How do I get in? There's no way I can sneak I like this. Then I'll just have to disguise myself. But maybe I need some kind of ID. _He saw a ninja coming his way. _Then I'll just have to take his looks and ID. _The ninja was walking when he heard something in the bushes. He looked to see what it was, but before he knew it, he got a punch in the stomach. He was knock out. Naruto searched the ninja and found an id-card. _ That went easy enough. Now for the next part. Henge! _

He looked exactly like the ninja he knocked out. He walked to the building and greeted all the ninjas that were on his way. He stood before a door and saw that he needed an id-card. He used the card he had stolen and the door opened. He walked through the door and he had to walk through a long hall. He saw a long man and a ninja talking. He tried to listen to what they were saying. "I need to go, so you'll be in charge here. Try to get the girl to talk. We need that information." The tall man handed some keys to the other guy. "Well, see ya." The man disappeared.

_That girl must be her! She's alive! _He saw the man walk to a door. He opened it using the keys he just got. Naruto decided to follow him and looked in the room. He saw Sakura chained up to a wall. _Sakura-chan! _He sneaked behind the man in the room and made a rasengan with one hand. The man turned around, but it was too late. "Rasengan!" The man hit a wall and lost consciousness. He tied up the man and he ran to Sakura. "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan, wake up, please!" The girl wasn't responding. Naruto was scared now. He looked at the girl._ She looks bad. _She had cuts everywhere on her body. She had a lot of bruises and he found blood everywhere. _Damn!_ He held his head close to her chest and heard her breathing. _She is alive! Thank god! I need to get her out of here fast. She looks bad. _He used the keys from the man to undo her chains and she fell on the ground. She still wasn't moving. He saw some sort of machine on her stomach and he broke it using a small rasengan.

He took her in his arms and left the room. He shut the door. _I need to buy as much time as I can get before they find out that she is gone. _He sneaked out of the building and saw that the guards outside hadn't noticed anything. He sneaked past the guards and kept running.

_Where am I? What's that noise? _She opened her eyes to see a fire. _What? Where am I? _She looked around and saw that she was in a cave. _My chains, they're gone. How did I get here? Did they move me?_ "Ouch"She looked at her body and saw that her body was covered with bandages. "Sakura-chan? Are you awake?" Sakura looked to the other side of the cave. She saw someone sitting there. She blinked and looked again. "Naruto…" _Am I seeing things again?_ The boy walked over to her and kneeled right before her. "Yeah, I'm here. Are you alright?" She blinked again. "This isn't a dream? You're really here?"

Naruto smiled at the girl. "Yeah, I'm here. Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Sakura couldn't believe it. _I…I've been saved?_ She started crying. Naruto didn't know what to do. "Sakura-chan? What's wrong?"

"Naruto!!" She jumped into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and continued to cry. Naruto was shocked. But he knew what he had to do. He put one of his arms round her back and pulled her closer. With his other hand he stroked the pink hair of the crying girl. "It's alright. Let it all out." He said it with a soothing voice.

Sakura felt that he was comforting her. "It was so scary, Naruto. They put some kind of machine on me and I couldn't use any chakra anymore. Then they tied me up and gagged me. They asked me all kind of things about Konoha and tortured me. They hit me, they used a nice. It…it was terrible. But I didn't tell them anything. Really. I" Sakura was shocked to see that he used his fingers to close her mouth. "I know you would die before telling them anything. Don't worry, I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you anymore." She looked at him and she saw that he had a small smile on his face. She stopped crying and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Naruto. I know I can trust you…" He looked at the girl to see that she was asleep. _Good night, Sakura-chan._

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. The sun was shining. She got up and saw that her head had been resting on his backpack and that his orange jacket was over her body. "Naruto?" She couldn't see him in the cave. "I'm outside. I'll be right there." She started to sit up. _Ouch…my body hurts all over. _She saw Naruto walk into the cave with some cup ramen and a bottle. "I was making your breakfast. You must be hungry.

"Thank you, Naruto. I could use something in my stomach. But" Naruto smiled at the girl and sat next to her. "You can't use your arms right. I had figured as much." Naruto used the chopsticks to pick up some noodles and held it before her. "Open wide!" Sakura was surprised by this, but she was very hungry. "That was good. Thank you, Naruto. Have you eaten already?" He was picking up the bottle. "No, that was the last bit of food I had left."

Sakura flipped. "What! Why didn't you say so? We could have split the ramen. Naruto opened the bottle. "You need your strength, right now. You looked quite hungry, so I figure that they haven't been feeding you so well. Now it's time for some medicine. It may be a little bitter, but it will ease your pain." Sakura saw that he was smiling and smiled a little too. "glup, glup, ack, this is gross." They both started smiling.

"Now let me take a look at your leg." Sakura became red. "It was pretty bad when I put the bandage on your leg. I want to look how it looks now." _Oh, that's what he meant. I started to think he was a pervert._ Naruto removed a bit of the bandages. Sakura saw that he looked serious. She asked how bad it was. Naruto put the bandage back on and threw away his backpack. "We are going to leave now. It doesn't look good. I think it's infected. You need to go to a hospital fast." Sakura knew that a infection could end up being very bad. She tried to stand up, but she feel down right away. _Damn, my leg. _Naruto walked over to her. "You can't walk in that condition, silly." He smirked at her. Sakura was confused. _How do we get to Konoha then? _

"Naruto, how do we get to Konoha then?" Naruto smiled at her. "Easy, I'll carry you." He sat in front of her with his back to her and grabbed her arms. He put them over his shoulders. Then he stretched his arm behind him and put his hands under her legs. He stood up and made sure she didn't fall by keeping his arms around her legs. She was on his back now. Sakura was blushing heavily. "Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto started to walk out of the cave and into the woods. "Are you comfortable, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was still blushing. "Yeah, it's fine. You just startled me a little. Thanks for carrying me and I'm sorry for being such a burden again." She sounded sad. "You're not a burden! I have never thought of you that way. You're one of the toughest people I know and you are always willing to help others." She was surprised to hear him say those words. "Stop thinking about that, okay." Sakura rested her head on his back. Naruto stopped walking for a minute. "Sakura-chan?"

"I'm just a little tired, Naruto. I think I'll take a nap." Before she could say anything else, Naruto saw that she was fast asleep with a smile on her face. _She's beautiful even in sleep. I'd better hurry and get her to the hospital._

Sakura opened her eyes and saw that she was in the hospital. "Finally awake, Sakura?" Sakura looked up to see Tsunade standing before her. "You made us all worry with your stunt, Sakura. We thought that you had died. We found your forehead protector all covered in blood and there wasn't a trace of your existence. I called in Naruto to tell him. He wouldn't accept it and even though I had forbidden it, he went to find you. And it's a good thing that he doesn't listen to me. He brought you back."

Sakura couldn't believe it. _This will ruin his chances for becoming hokage for sure. I destroyed his dream. _She looked a little sad. "He came running into the hospital this night and fell down on the floor. He told me to look after you before he passed out. I have taken care of your leg and your other injuries and you just need to rest now." Sakura got up fast and looked her mentor in the eyes. "Where is he?! He isn't hurt, is he?!

"He's fine. Look next to you." Sakura looked to her left and saw Naruto lying on the bed next to her. "He's exhausted. He used up all of his chakra. He needs a nice long nap and he'll be fine." Sakura looked at the boy and started to smile. "Then, I am glad." The door suddenly opened and two people entered the room. "Mom, Ino!"

"Sakura!" Her mother hugged the girl as hard as she could. Ino walked over to her too. "You put us through quite a lot, forehead." Sakura started to apologise to the two women. "I'm just glad that you're back, dear." Ino and Tsunade left the two alone. Sakura looked over to Naruto. "You have to thank Naruto for that, Mom." Sakura's mother was confused. What does that monster have to do with you?" Sakura flipped. "That 'monster' is the one who saved me, mom! You had all given up hope, but he didn't. Don't disrespect him. He's a true hero." Sakura's mother was shocked. "I had no idea. I'm sorry, dear. You don't know him like I do, so I hadn't expected this." Sakura was confused. "How do you know him then, mom?

"It is not for me to say. I admit, I was wrong about him. From now on, I'll treat him good." Sakura looked at her mother and knew she wasn't lying. "Thanks, mom."

Naruto opened his eyes. _I'm in the hospital? How did I get here? I remember bringing Sakura-chan here. _"Sakura-chan!" He jumped out of his bed. "Naruto, what's wrong?" He looked to the other side of the room to find Sakura standing in front of the window. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan? Are you supposed to be out of bed already?" She saw that he was worried and walked to him. "I'm alright, Naruto, thanks to you." She walked up to the boy and embraced him. "I couldn't show you my appreciation before, but now I can." She saw that he was blushing, but that he deepened the hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, Sakura-chan."

They just hugged each other without saying anything. They didn't see that a pink haired woman was looking at them in the door opening with a smile on her face.


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm sorry, Naruto." Naruto's face fell. Tsunade walked over to the boy and comforted him. "I know that you cared a lot for him." Naruto looked up to the woman. "Gaara…"

Naruto was walking to Sakura's home. He didn't want to go, but he knew he had too. He took the long road, but finally reached his destination. He knocked on the door. Sakura opened the door and was glad that Naruto was there. She soon realised the boy was sad and took the boy inside. "What's wrong, Naruto. I've never seen you this way before. You can tell me everything." She gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"Sakura-chan. Gaara has been killed." The pink-haired kunoichi looked at the boy and saw that he was very sad. She still didn't like the guy who tried to kill her and her friends. Naruto had become good friends with him though, and she knew that. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I knew you saw him as a good friend.

Sakura took the boy to the couch and they sat down. Naruto was still looking to the ground. "He was even more than that, Sakura-chan. But the one who killed him was part of the organisation that's after me. I told you about them, didn't I? It's the organisation Uchiha Itachi is a member of."

_Yeah he told me about it. He told two members of that organisation tried to take him with them when he was training. He and Sasuke both were no match for them then and they only survived, because Jiraiya was there. _"But why are they after you, Naruto? And why did they kill Gaara?" She looked at the boy with her emerald green eyes.

"I'll get to that. But this is not all. According to several witnesses, among them Kankurou en Temari of the sand Sasuke was there too. He helped to defeat the sand ninja who tried to interfere." Sakura was shocked. "Why would he join that organisation? I thought he was training with that snake bastard?"

"I don't know, Sakura-chan, but this might mean that it wasn't Sasuke anymore. Orochimaru wasn't seen there. And Orochimaru has been a member of that organisation before. So it makes sense this way. They saw Sasuke use a lot of techniques that Orochimaru uses too."

Sakura was silent for a while. "So, you say we should give up on him?" She looked angry at him. Naruto looked her straight in the eyes. "No way. I'm just saying that we aren't ready to face him yet. Gaara was stronger than me. I have fought him at the end of my training and he was really strong. But he has been defeated by one member of that organisation. If Sasuke or Orochimaru is now a member of that organisation, he must be quite strong too and if we try to save him, we might have to deal with them too. I'm just saying that we are not strong enough."

Sakura listened and was impressed by how determined the boy was. She had never seen Naruto this serious before. "So what's the plan? I guess you have one, or else you wouldn't have told me all this." Naruto stood up. "The old hag told me something about training in two man cells. She has done it in her youth and it helped her become a lot stronger. So I decided to do it too. I got permission from her and I don't have to do missions for a full year. There's a small training village somewhere in the fire country. It is a village made for about 20 people. The training program will include ten two man teams. From our village 3 teams are able to go. I'm on of the members of one of the teams."

Sakura had heard Tsunade talk about it. _It is supposed to be really though. But I know Naruto can take it. But I can't believe that he's leaving me behind again. I don't want to get lonely again. _"I'll sure miss you. Who are you going to take with you?"

Naruto looked at the girl. "The old hag allowed me to choose. She told me that it's better to take someone you know. I was hoping that you would go with me, Sakura-chan." Sakura couldn't believe what she heard. "You mean that? I'm not strong enough to keep up with you. I would only be a burden to you." Naruto became angry. "You just keep on going about being a burden. You're not, I'm telling you. I wouldn't ask you to come if I wasn't sure if you got what it takes. I think you are the only one in the village who can keep up with me. At some points you're even better than me. We can help each other get stronger, because we have different weak points and strengths. So, what do you say? I could really use your help with training."

Sakura looked to see the boy smile with his usual grin. _He believes in me, even though even I don't believe in myself. I really want to go. I don't know why, but I think I should go. It feels right. _"Okay, you've convinced me. I'll go. But don't go easy on me there. I don't want to hold you back. I'll do everything I can to make you proud." Naruto started to smile even more. "I knew I could count on you. Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Tenten are coming too. We will be leaving tomorrow. So get ready. Don't bother to bring along too much. We'll get a house, there are shops there. And we will get paid. Don't forget to get enough sleep tonight; we will be travelling an entire day. I'll pick you up at 6 in the morning tomorrow. So be ready" The boy was smirking.

"You got it." Sakura was almost as excited as the boy and smirked too. I'll see you tomorrow then, Naruto." She closed the door and started packing her stuff. She told her mother the story and after a little bit complaining she too was happy.

**Dingdong**Sakura opened the door and saw Naruto standing there. "Good morning, Sakura-chan" He looked behind her and saw her mother. "Good morning Haruno-san." Sakura ran past the boy. "Goodbye, mom. Race me, Naruto. The slowest one is a loser."

Naruto looked happy to the running girl and didn't notice that the other woman walked up to him. "She is certainly energetic this morning." He shrieked when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, she certainly is. Please take care of my daughter." Naruto blushed heavily. "Of course, Haruno-san." Naruto started running to catch up with his friend.

Naruto and Sakura were jumping from tree to tree. They were getting a little tired. "Are we almost there, Naruto? It is getting dark already." The boy looked at the map. "I think we'll be there in one hour. We'll meet up with Ino and the rest when we get there. Then we will go to our houses and start training tomorrow." Sakura began thinking. "I hope the houses are nice. We will be spending a long time here."

Naruto looked and saw something in the distance. "There it is!" They landed and looked around. "It's nice and small isn't it?" Sakura looked happy when looking around. "Took you guys long enough. We have been waiting for a while and Ino just kept on talking. It was very troublesome." They looked up to see Shikamaru and the rest. "What did you say, Shikamaru!" Naruto and Sakura started laughing when Ino hit Shikamaru. 

Ino then walked to her bag and picked it up. They gave us three keys. So we have to share rooms. They told us that we have one room per team. I'll go with Tenten, Shikamaru and Chouji will take the second, so that means you will have to share a room with Naruto, Sakura." Ino had a devilish smile on her face. _Sakura is going to explode now, hehe._

Naruto turned to Sakura. "I had no idea. It's okay, Sakura-chan. You take the apartment. I'll just sleep outside under the stars. I did so with my training with Ero-sennin too." He looked at the girl with the hope that she wouldn't explode. "Are you mad? We're just going to share the room. No way that you're going to sleep outside." She gave him a smile. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were shocked. They hadn't expected this. They stayed like this when they saw Sakura grabbing the key to her apartment and pulling Naruto, who was in shock too, with her.

She opened the door to the apartment. They looked around. There was a living room, a kitchen, a shower room and a bedroom. "It looks okay, doesn't it?" She opened the door to the shower room. There was a shower and a pretty big bathtub. "Sakura-chan!" Sakura ran over to where Naruto was. He had opened the door to the bedroom. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto pointed into the room. "There's only one bed." Sakura looked into the room. "Looks like a good bed. The couch seemed good too, so one of us sleeps on the couch. We'll switch each day." Sakura smiled at the boy. "No way that you're sleeping on the couch, Sakura-chan. You take the bed, I'll take the couch." Sakura walked over to the bed. "We will switch each day. I don't deserve the bed any more than you do. I'll sleep in it tonight and you'll sleep in it tomorrow." Naruto nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hahaha. Yeah, those were the good days, eh." Sakura laughed hard. "Why haven't we done this earlier? We, girls, have a lot of girl talk to do." Ino and Tenten agreed. "So, how's training going?" Ino replied with a happy face: "We're doing great. Tenten is great with weapons and she's teaching me to get better with them too." Tenten laughed. "A weapon is your most important comrade in a fight."

The two girls asked Sakura how her training was going. "Naruto has really been pushing me to the edge. He's really something else. He's trying to increase my stamina. He says I've got a lot of skill, but that I lack stamina. I kind of agree with him. That has always been my problem. He makes me fight his clones with my medical ninjutsu and than we do a lot of exercises together. It is really hard, but I'm really enjoying myself. He always has something to talk about and smiles all the time, even when he's beat. I feel that I get stronger every day."

Ino and Tenten smirked. Sakura didn't get it. "You really like him, eh." Sakura started to blush a little. "What are you talking about, Tenten. We're just really good friends." Ino looked at Sakura. "Why are you blushing then? Just tell us already. Tenten and I have told you who we liked too. We won't tell anyone, you know that." Sakura looked at the other girls seriously. "Okay, but what I'm going to say will never leave this room, got it." Tenten and Ino nodded.

"I think I really like him. I see him as my best friend, but I think it's something more sometimes. These feelings started to develop rapidly after he saved me from the rock ninja. I could see that he really cares for me. Now that I live in the same house as him, I see a lot of things of Naruto that I hadn't seen before. He is really nice." She was blushing a lot.

"We knew it!" Ino jumped over to Sakura and looked at her with a sneaky look on her face. "So, when are you going to tell him about these feelings?" Sakura looked down. "I know that he likes me, so I don't have to worry about that, but he's been hiding something for me. Every time that I ask him what is bothering him, he evades my question. The adults back in Konoha looked at him with angry looks on their faces. I want him to really trust me before I tell him about these feelings. So I'm going to ask him on a date tomorrow after training and then ask him what he's hiding. I think it's really something, but if he doesn't tell me I can't help him."

Tenten looked at her and saw she was very sad. "I know he'll tell you. He trusts you more than anyone." The door to the apartment suddenly opened. "Hi, Sakura-chan!" He walked to the living room and saw the two other girls too. "Sorry, I didn't know that you had company. I'll come back later then." Ino ran to Naruto and stopped him. "It's alright Tenten and I were just leaving, right Tenten?" Ino shook her head to the door and Tenten got the message. "Yeah, we were just leaving. It was great Sakura. See you later." Tenten left the apartment and Ino whispered something in Naruto's ear and then left too. Naruto walked to Sakura with a confused look on his face. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Naruto sat down next to her. "She said: good luck. What for? Girls, I'll never understand them." He smiled at the girl next to him, but didn't see that she was a little sad.

"Okay Sakura-chan. Today we're going to increase our speed. We're going to run around the village and I put a lot of obstacles on the road we're going to take. We will have to use our speed and reflexes to come through this unharmed. I know you can do it, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled at the boy for his confidence in her. "Just try to keep up with me, Naruto." She said it in a flirting way." They ran through the forest with high speed. Naruto was impressed how Sakura was doing. He hadn't expected her to do this well. They were quite far from the village now. Naruto was enjoying himself until he saw someone in the forest. Sakura looked behind her and saw that Naruto had landed on the ground and saw the other man too. "What's wrong, Naruto. You know this guy?" She saw that Naruto had a serious look on his face. "A black robe with red clouds on it. That means you're a member of Akatsuki. Am I right?"

Sakura looked at the man. _Akatsuki? The organisation that killed Gaara. What's he doing here?_ "So you know who I am, hmpf. My name is Deidera. I hope you're ready, because I am going to beat you and take you with me now." Naruto stepped forward and put his arm in front of Sakura. " Not if I can help it! Sakura-chan, this guy is dangerous. Please go to the village and stay there. I don't want you to get hurt." Sakura pushed away his arm. "I'm not leaving you. You told me that we would get stronger together. What's the use of that, if you won't let me fight with you. I know you're concerned about my safety. But I am a ninja too. And according to you a pretty strong one too." She smiled at the boy. "So, don't tell me to leave."

"So the jinchuuriki has a friend. How cute. Then I'll just have to kill her. _Jinchuuriki? What's that? _Sakura looked confused, but didn't have time to think. The blonde enemy opened his hands and Sakura saw a few birds made of clay in his hands. "I'll show you the art of explosions." He threw the birds at his opponents, but they evaded the birds. They hit the trees behind them and exploded. Naruto and Sakura were shocked. _What the hell. He uses some kind of explosions. _Naruto ran over to him and tried to attack him. The enemy jumped up and kicked Naruto, but Naruto turned into smoke. "What? Kage bunshin?" He suddenly heard something from behind. "Fuuton! Air manipulation!" Naruto made some seals and both Sakura and Deidera were surprised that nothing happened. "Looks like you failed boy, hehe."

Naruto started to smile. Suddenly a huge tornado started to form around Deidera. "What the!?" The wind grabbed his arms and legs. "Now Sakura-chan. Now's your chance!" Sakura knew what she had to do. She ran to the enemy and hit him with all her strength. Deidera landed on the ground and was bleeding. _They are quite strong, hmpf. _Deidera made some seals. "Katon, grand fireball!" Sakura jumped away, but was surprised when she saw that Deidera was right behind her. He kicked her and she fell down hard. He made some seals. "This is the end!" Sakura closed her eyes, but opened them again when she heard a shriek. She looked to where the sound had come from and saw the Akatsuki member lying on the ground. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" She looked up and saw Naruto standing next to her, but something was weird. _What are those red eyes? His eyes are usually blue, right?_

"You will pay for this, you bastard. Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Sakura looked at the two Naruto's and saw that they were making a great ball of chakra. _That looks like a rasengan, but way bigger. _Naruto ran toward the Akatsuki member who was still lying on the floor. "That hurt. That jinchuuriki is no pushover, hmpf." He looked up and saw that Naruto and a clone were running to him with a great chakra ball. "Damn, I can't get away in time." He quickly made some seals."

A great explosion followed. Sakura was almost blown away. _What power. I didn't know Naruto was able to perform a jutsu of this power. Amazing._ The smoke cleared and Sakura saw Naruto standing in front of the Akatsuki member. He had guarded himself with some of his clay, but still looked pretty hurt. "Damn you. If I'm going to die, so be it. But I'm not going to hell alone. You're all coming with me." Deidera started to grow in size and looked like a big balloon now."

Sakura looked at the sight. "Naruto, he's going to explode. _Oh no. So much chakra, there's no way we can get far enough. _She was about to run away when she noticed that her arm was being held. "Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto looked at the girl. "Stay here. The explosion will be too big. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Sakura looked in the boys eyes. They were blue again. "I believe you."

"Now die!" There was a big explosion. Sakura closed her eyes again. Naruto quickly made some seals and put his hands on the ground. Sakura heard a big explosion. When the explosion stopped she opened her eyes again. "What…what's this?" She looked around and saw pink meat everywhere. Naruto still had his hands on the floor. "I summoned the stomach of a still living rock frog. This protected us from the explosion." He stamped on the floor and the stomach disappeared. _Wow, Naruto, you're amazing. _

"Looks like he's dead." They looked around and saw that everything was destroyed. "Well, that was enough training for today, let's go home." He was grinning. He started to walk, but suddenly fell down. Sakura ran over to him. "Naruto! Wake up, Naruto! What's wrong!" Sakura used her medical ninjutsu to check the boy. _Phew, he's just exhausted. _She picked up the boy and carried him home.

Naruto opened his eyes. _Where am I?_ He looked around and saw that he was in his room. He jumped up from the bed. "Sakura-chan!?" Sakura came running into the room. "I'm here, what's wrong?" She walked over to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what happened." You saved us and then you blacked out." He looked at her and she had a small smile on her face.

She suddenly started to look serious now. "Naruto. I don't want us to keep secrets from each other anymore. I know that you're hiding something. You're evading my questions about your past. I want you to tell me the truth now." Naruto looked shocked. He hadn't expected this. "Sakura-chan…" Sakura became angry. "You're going to tell me now. You can trust me, I won't tell anyone."

"I know that, Sakura-chan. I'm just scared that you don't want to see me again when I tell you this." Sakura looked confused. "What are you talking about? Just tell me, please." Naruto looked at the ground. "Okay, Sakura-chan. I will tell you everything.

"I never had parents. I don't know who they were and why they left me. I grew up in an orphanage. I don't know why, but I thought that I was different from the rest of the kids. The adults in the orphanage treated me very bad. They gave me a small dark room in the basement. I had to live of the leftovers of the other kids." Sakura looked sad. "Why did they treat you so bad?"

"I didn't know that. I used to think that it was alright. It was all I had. When I became nine years old though, they threw me out of the orphanage. They didn't say why. I didn't understand. I started to doubt myself. Did I do something wrong? I started to live on the streets. The people looked angry at me. There were some people who thought it was sad and they gave me some food. I went to look at the stone faces on the wall of the village one day and I met with the third hokage. I thought he was just an old man. He was very nice to me and we started talking. He told me that he was hokage and that everyone respected him. He gave me a house and told me about the ninja academy. He said that he would register me. When I asked him why he was so nice to me, he said that it was the duty of the hokage to make sure that everyone's happy. From that time on I made it my dream to become hokage: To earn respect from the people." Sakura became sadder. _So that's why you want to become hokage._

"I started to train, but I hardly increased. According to the ninja academy I had a talent for taijutsu. It was the reason I was allowed to join the academy. I tried to do my best on the academy, but the teachers scolded at me and didn't want to help me and often hi. The kids followed his example. I heard that everyone had their parents help them. I felt even more alone. After school I would go home. But even at home I wasn't safe. Every day the people threw stones through the window. I was hit the first few times and wasn't able to train. They called me a monster. I didn't understand. They told me to die. At one time I really tried to do that. I cut my wrists, I was ready to die. But somehow my wounds healed right away. I thought to myself that even the angels in the sky and the demons in the underworld didn't want me around." Sakura's eyes got a little watery now. _He tried to kill himself! I…I_

"I failed the graduation exams two times in a row. I started to think that if I couldn't get people to see me that I had to do something to make them see me. I became the class clown and did all sort of stupid things. They laughed when I did something stupid and I was actually a bit happy that they saw me standing. I came into your class. Iruka-sensei was the first teacher who was really nice to me. He treated me to ramen and he tried to help me in class. I failed again, as you know. But Mizuki told me that there was another way to become genin. He told me to steal some scrolls and that it would make me genin. I stole them and I learned the kage bunshin from that scroll. Mizuki tried to kill me after that, but Iruka-sensei saved me."

Sakura saw that Naruto moved his hand to his stomach. "And then it was revealed to me. The reason everybody hated me and wanted me death. Sakura-chan, do you know what the Kyuubi is?" Sakura washed away her tears. "The monster fox that almost destroyed Konoha, right? But what has that got to do with it?"

"Mizuki told me. Inside of me is sealed the Kyuubi." Sakura started to laugh. "What are you talking about? The Kyuubi was destroyed by the fourth hokage." Naruto looked down. "He couldn't defeat the fox, so he used a sealing technique to seal it in a little boy. That boy was me." Sakura's eyes widened and she became quiet. "The reason that Akatsuki is after me is because they want what's inside me. They killed Gaara for the same reason. We are just monsters to them."

"I understand if you are going to hate me now too. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. I'll leave you alone." Naruto was startled and very surprised when Sakura jumped on the bed and hugged him. "BAKA! Why didn't you tell me anything? Why did you hold all of this for yourself? I could've helped you. You don't have to say sorry, I'm the one who should be apologising. I treated you no better than the others. I'm so sorry Naruto, please forgive me!" She had buried her head into his chest and was crying a lot. "Sakura-chan?" The boy didn't expect this. "I'll never leave you alone again. You now have someone who'll be there for you. I'll protect you from those people and make sure that you will be happy." Naruto had never heard anything like those words. He pulled her closer and started to cry too. "Thank you so much, Sakura-chan. You don't know how much that means to me." Sakura looked up and gave him a small smile. "No thank you, Naruto, for being who you are." They kept holding each other the entire night and fell asleep in each others arms.


End file.
